# Joel Bernard

Joel Bernard (born December 8, 1963) is a Canadian conservative politician.

## Political career
### Provincial

He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, representing Nepisiguit, in the general election of 1999 and became deputy speaker of the Legislature. He was defeated in his bid for a second term in the 2003 election by former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Frank Branch. Branch had represented the area from 1970 to 1995, when he retired and did not seek re-election.
Bernard was one of several defeated Progressive Conservative MLAs who were appointed to government positions by Premier Bernard Lord following their defeat in the 2003 election.
Bernard had been appointed to oversee and economic development fund for the Restigouche-Baie des Chaleurs region. He took a leave of absence from his position in March 2004 to be a Conservative candidate in the 2004 federal election.

### Federal

In late April 2005, Bernard announced he would be a candidate for the Conservative nomination for the riding of Ottawa—Orléans for the next federal election. On May 16, he was defeated by Royal Galipeau, a former member of the Liberal Party of Canada, for the nomination by a margin of 174 to 126, who went on to win the seat in the election.
From 2006 to 2008, Bernard held the position of Senior Policy Advisor in the office of Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety in the new Conservative government.
In the 2008 federal election, the Conservative Party brought Bernard to Nova Scotia to run against Conservative-turned-Independent Bill Casey in the riding of Cumberland–Colchester–Musquodoboit Valley. On election night, Casey was re-elected by over 22,000 votes, with Bernard finishing third, polling just under 9%.
Bernard was the Senior Policy Advisor for aerospace, procurements, industrial regional benefits and the auto file to Tony Clement, Minister of Industry Canada, until he left the position in 2010. Since then, he has held several positions of Senior Policy Advisor for Fisheries & Oceans Canada, International Development and La francophonie. He later was employed as a Parliamentary Affairs Advisor for Pierre Paul-Hus, the Shadow minister for Public Safety, Border Security and Emergency Preparedness and the Member of Parliament for Charlesbourg – Haute – Saint-Charles.
In March 2019, Bernard won the Ottawa—Vanier Conservative nomination contest, becoming their candidate for the 2019 federal election.

## Personal life

He lives in Ottawa, Ontario with his wife Catherine and his two children, Lilianne and Samuel. Joel retired in December 2023 and is the co-founder of the Hill Advisory Network (THAN). THAN is a mentoring service made available free of charge to Parliament Hill Staffers (All political stripes).

## Electoral record
### Federal

vte2021 Canadian federal election: Gatineau :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Steven MacKinnon | 26,267 | 50.0 | -2.1 | $55,420.93 |
| | Bloc Québécois | Geneviève Nadeau | 12,278 | 23.4 | +2.0 | $13,121.18 |
| | Conservative | Joel Bernard | 5,752 | 11.0 | +0.7 | $3,144.49 |
| | New Democratic | Fernanda Rengel | 4,508 | 8.6 | -2.4 | $51.11 |
| | People's | Mathieu Saint-Jean | 2,264 | 4.3 | +3.3 | $4,401.73 |
| | Green | Rachid Jemmah | 783 | 1.5 | -2.6 | $0.00 |
| | Free | Luc Lavoie | 411 | 0.8 | N/A | $564.48 |
| | Rhinoceros | Sébastien Grenier | 178 | 0.3 | N/A | $0.00 |
| | Marxist–Leninist | Pierre Soublière | 56 | 0.1 | ±0.0 | $0.00 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 52,497 | 98.5 | – | $113,382.26 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 818 | 1.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,315 | 63.8 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 83,618 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | -2.0 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
vte2019 Canadian federal election: Ottawa—Vanier :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Mona Fortier | 32,679 | 51.2 | 0 | $76,159.78 |
| | New Democratic | Stéphanie Mercier | 13,516 | 21.2 | -7.5 | none listed |
| | Conservative | Joel Bernard | 11,118 | 17.4 | +2 | $18,239.00 |
| | Green | Oriana Ngabirano | 4,796 | 7.5 | +4.2 | $8,669.23 |
| | People's | Paul Durst | 1,064 | 1.7 | | $6,338.44 |
| | Rhinoceros | Derek Miller | 229 | 0.4 | | $0.00 |
| | Independent | Joel Altman | 211 | 0.3 | | $281.93 |
| | Communist | Michelle Paquette | 115 | 0.2 | | $496.90 |
| | Independent | Daniel James McHugh | 94 | 0.1 | | $0.00 |
| | Marxist–Leninist | Christian Legeais | 59 | 0.1 | | $0.00 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 63,881 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 699 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 64,580 | 71.0 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 91,015 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | +3.75 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
2008 Canadian federal election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Independent | Bill Casey | 27,303 | 69.01 | +16.97 | $68,549.58 |
| | New Democratic | Karen Olsson | 4,874 | 12.32 | -8.42 | $6,944.11 |
| | Conservative | Joel Bernard | 3,493 | 8.83 | -43.21 | $35,846.73 |
| | Liberal | Tracy Parsons | 3,344 | 8.45 | -15.44 | $28,266.26 |
| | Independent | Rick Simpson | 550 | 1.39 | +0.17 | none listed |
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | 39,564 | 100.0 | | $84,518 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 201 | 0.51 | +0.04 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,765 | 57.77 | -4.08 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 68,831 |
| | Independent gain from Conservative | Independent gain from Conservative | Swing | Swing | +12.68 |
vte2004 Canadian federal election: Acadie—Bathurst :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Yvon Godin | 23,857 | 53.93 | +7.26 | $61,745.98 |
| | Liberal | Serge Rousselle | 14,452 | 32.67 | -7.75 | $60,252.15 |
| | Conservative | Joel Bernard | 4,841 | 10.94 | -1.97 | $51,943.73 |
| | Green | Mario Lanteigne | 1,085 | 2.45 | – | $7,040.66 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,235 | 100.0 | | $71,582 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 527 | 1.18 | -0.04 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,762 | 70.38 | -4.99 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 63,603 |
| | New Democratic notional hold | New Democratic notional hold | Swing | Swing | +7.50 |
| Changes from 2000 are based on redistributed results. Conservative Party change is based on the combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party totals. |||||||

### Provincial

2003 New Brunswick general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Frank Branch | 3,498 | 53.06 | +19.24 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Joel Bernard | 2,200 | 33.37 | -5.11 |
| | New Democratic | Normand Savoie | 894 | 13.56 | -14.14 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 6,592 | 100.0 |
| | Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | Swing | +12.18 |
1999 New Brunswick general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Joel Bernard | 2,534 | 38.48 | +8.18 |
| | Liberal | Alban Landry | 2,227 | 33.82 | -23.82 |
| | New Democratic | Gilles Halley | 1,824 | 27.70 | +16.99 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 6,585 | 100.0 |
| | Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | Swing | +16.00 |